If we thought our Cornwall adventure could not get any better, we thought wrong. We arrived in Padstow from Tinganel Castle a little hungry from all the walking and we looked for a place that was serving all day on a Sunday. Welcoming this was Cafe Rojano by Paul Ainsworth. Normally when I see a restaurant with a Michelin plate in London, I am either thinking it is going to be an unpleasant surprise or just a sheer waste of time because the food will be extremely average. Not here though and how so refreshing this was, another stark reminder that I need to get out of the capital a lot more. The service was smiley, happy, clear, and concise, I was more than willing to leave a tip.
All the food came out at the same time and because it was verging on 4.15pm the small plates options for sharing was acceptable. A brilliant addition to their menus is the dedicated gluten and dairy free one, which had lots of good-looking options on it, so it means somebody with an intolerance is not just stuck with eating a salad… The Sicilian arancini is where I started, it was filled with a bolognese, and parmesan risotto served with a mighty truffle mayonnaise. They packed flavour and held their crisp on the outside. Simply wonderful ones.
Next the bouquerones- guindilla chillies, lemon, parsley, Picual olive oil. This is how I would prepare my own at home for an aperitif on a Saturday night, and to go one step further I piled them onto their delicious bread and topped a generous spoonful of the Cafe Rojano’s Aioli on the top. My god it was good, and packed with a lot of garlic (Exactly how it should be)
The Cafe Rojano fries were a guilty pleasure- Seaweed, rosemary, parmesan, and more truffle mayonnaise. Perfect ones. If someone did not come to take them away before I ate every single one like a pig… I literally could not stop myself. The fries were at the right thickness and crispy, well seasoned. KO.
Slaw is one of my favourite sides and this one was chipotle flavoured- Red and white cabbage, coriander, sweetcorn, and crème fraîche. It was creamy and indulgent, perhaps not entirely the epitome of health this one but I really enjoyed it.
To cancel out some of the heaviness we ordered some Cornish snap peas- Mora farm organic, minted gremolata, flakey sea salt. They were green and bright, cooked as much as they needed to be and seasoned perfectly.
I was happy to have finally discovered a place that was delivering simple plates but keeping quality in the forefront. There were no corners cut and the price at the end was very reasonable. Delicious food served all day, with clearly some good chefs in the kitchen. I really vow to come out of London a lot more, because nine times out of ten you are likely to have much more fun with food at a price you can be satisfied with. This place has the thumbs up from me.
